
In this post, I am going to show you how to make these primitive sunflowers.
They are easy to make with just a few sewing and painting supplies.
I will show you how to cut the sunflower petals
and make the middle look realistic by painting and adding seeds.
You can hang these in bundles or add them to a wreath or flower arrangement.
They are the perfect fall accent in your country decor!
You will want to make a lot of these prim sunflowers to add to all of your fall farmhouse decorating!
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Gather the Supplies:
- two shades of brown craft paint
- paintbrush
- craft glue
- instant coffee
- stuffing
- basic sewing supplies
- white or cream terrycloth fabric – or use old towels
- 100% cotton fabric in yellow or cream
- spice with a seed-like look such as thyme or rosemary
- circle templates – lids or other things from around the house

Watch the Video:
Sunflower Circle Tempate Sizes:
Look for lids and other circular things around the house that would be easy to trace around for a pattern.
I used two metal lids for the petal templates and an embroidery hoop and jar lid for the inner seed area templates.

Be sure to put the two templates together to gauge proportions.
I like my sunflower middles to be fairly large and the petals relatively small.
You might prefer a different look.
(I actually started out with templates for three different sized sunflowers,
but I accidentally cut the smallest petals twice so I ended up making two small sunflowers and one larger one.)
This is a guide to show you the size of the templates I used.
Petal Template | Seed Template | |
Large Sunflower | 7-1/4″ in diameter | 5″ in diameter |
Small Sunflower | 4-3/4″ in diameter | 3″ in diameter |
Cut the Sunflower Centers:
Place the seed template circles on the terry cloth fabric.
Trace around them using a pen.
Cut out the circles.
You will need one center for each sunflower.

Cut the Sunflower Petals:
On the first sunflower I made, I used a fabric that was only printed on one side for the petals.
I didn’t like the way the petals looked when they drooped over and you could see the unprinted fabric back.

For the rest, I only used cotton fabrics that have been printed on both sides.
Fold the cotton fabric in half.
Place the petal template on top of the fabric and trace around it.
Cut out the double layer of fabric.
You will end up with two petal circles. Both will be used in ONE sunflower.

Center the corresponding seed circle on top of the two petal circles. Pin together.

Cut petals in the double layer of petal fabric right up to the edge of the terry cloth fabric.

I made these petals about one inch wide, but I didn’t measure to be exact.
You could make them larger or smaller based on the size of your sunflower and preferences.
Grunge the Sunflower Petals:
Soak the petals in some coffee.

Take the sunflower petals out of the coffee and wring out the excess fabric.
Leave the somewhat wrinkled up to dry.

Paint the Sunflower Centers:
Use the two shades of brown craft paint to paint the sunflower centers.
I used folk art #2936 Cocoa Bean and Anita’s Earth brown.
Paint the outside of the circle with the lighter brown and the center of the circle with the darker brown.
Then use alternate between both colors to blend the two areas.

Add the Sunflower Seeds:
Apply some glue on top of the paint.
(Be sure to use a glue that will dry clear.)

Use the paintbrush to spread the glue around on the sunflower middle.

Sprinkle some thyme or rosemary over the top.
Add more than you think you want because some of the spice won’t stick!
Add more glue to the top of the spice.

Use the paintbrush to smear the glue around the spice.
This will give the spice some brown color and make sure they get stuck down.

Let this dry overnight.
Assemble the Primitive Sunflowers:
Carefully press the middle uncut part of the sunflower petal circles. Leave the petals wrinkled.
Layer the two petal pieces on top of one another, making sure the petals are staggered.

Place the flower middle seed area into the middle.
Use a running stitch to stitch the seed area to the petal area, leaving an opening for stuffing.

Lightly stuff between the top seed layer and the petal layer.

Finish stitching the opening closed.

Add Stems to Sunflowers:
If you want to be able to hang the primitive sunflowers or use them as picks in your flower arrangements,
you can whipstitch a straight stick onto the back of the sunflower.

Be sure to check out our other primitive craft tutorials!

Blessings~
Amy
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